Goffs Churchgate Academy - Additional Information Booklet 2023

Goffs - Churchgate Academy

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

RESPECT ASPIRE NURTURE ACHIEVE

WELCOME TO GOFFS-CHURCHGATE

We are excited to welcome you to our school, which operates under the oversight of the Generations Multi Academy Trust. We are firmly established as one of the leading schools in the area which has been validated by OFSTED who in their recent visit stated the school is ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features. We are a mixed comprehensive school, offering every student the best possible education for the future. Our deliberately small, close-knit community ensures that every student has the opportunity to fulfil their potential and to leave with an excellent set of qualifications, but also to leave as well rounded, compassionate young adults. Our mantra of Respect, Aspire, Nurture and Achieve is reflected every day in all of our work with our students.

Within our small, nurturing environment, all of the students know each other and regularly mix with each other at break and lunch periods. Our extremely strong sense of community is further nurtured through the House system embedded across the school. Each student is a member of a House. To ensure our House system is modern and diverse, we have recently changed our House names to Attenborough, Rashford, Seacole, and Trott. Through their rewards in class and participation in House cultural and sporting events, students earn points towards their House. The House competitions culminate in a highly competitive Sports Day at the end of the year.

We work in partnership with our students, parents and local schools to support the students in our care both academically and emotionally, as they develop through their teenage years. We also work tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition from primary school into their new place of learning.

Our transition programme starts from allocation day in March, and over the following months, we meet regularly with students and parents to ensure a smooth transition into Year 7 for all members of your family.

All of the lessons take place in a high-quality teaching environment, including a brand new Library and Learning Plus, which is located at the centre of the school. The facilities within the school bring a modern and professional working environment for both students and staff.

These include a full size indoor swimming pool; a state of the art 3G Sports pitch; a professional sprung floor gymnasium; a large suite of modern ICT rooms providing state of the art technology for our students; large spacious classrooms; significant resources in Technology including Laser cutters and a 3D printer; a new Art and Photography suite; plus professional Drama and Dance studios. We strongly believe that every child should be nurtured to reach their full potential by supporting them to discover and develop their talents wherever they may lie.

As part of its nurturing of each child, the school has an excellent facility in its Learning Plus Centre, where students can work with members of staff on their academic studies, whilst also receiving any pastoral support that they may need. This work is complemented with a strong focus on each child’s well-being and mental health, supported by our two Mental Health Leads. Our school provides personalised, extensive support and provision for all students who have a SEND need.

We firmly believe that every child can succeed at whatever they put their minds to, and we have extremely high aspirations for all of our students regardless of their starting place.

Outside of the classroom, we offer a range of extra-curricular activities for all our students to develop their skills and to facilitate their contribution to our community. This includes our Character Charter programme where students evidence the key traits they have learned and developed, including resilience and leadership. This programme also allows students opportunities for real life skill development, from preparing a basic meal to ironing a shirt correctly.

The school upholds extremely high expectations of its students. Traditional values of self-discipline, respect, responsibility and sensitivity to the needs of others underpin the school ethos; we take great pride in developing an environment where students can feel safe and are able to concentrate on learning. The school adopts a very clear zero tolerance approach to disruption of learning, based on a Trust wide mantra of “Every Lesson Counts.” If you are choosing Goffs-Churchgate for your child, you will want to be sure that you support a highly aspirant ethos that permeates every part of our daily work, with a consistently implemented zero tolerance approach to any disruption of learning, including Saturday Detentions, and a clear expectation that students are in full correct uniform at all times if they are to join lessons with their peers.

It is our firm belief that a combination of traditional values, with an emphasis on mutual trust, respect and honesty, coupled with the highest of ambitions and forward-thinking learning and teaching, provide an environment where each student has every opportunity to flourish.

At Goffs-Churchgate, we have a highly committed staff body who work tirelessly to support all of our students in every lesson. The school is regularly open late into the evening and also at weekends and holidays, with all staff giving up their time to support our students.

These documents can only give you a flavour of our school community. We would encourage you to take some time to visit the school and see our community in action. We offer a range of School in Action tours and events which can be arranged by contacting our Main Reception on 01992 624375.

We are sure that if your child joins our school they will have a happy and safe experience, achieving excellent qualifications, whilst also growing into respectful young adults.

Thomas Sparks, Principal

GOFFS-CHURCHGATE: OUR SCHOOL

COMMUNITY

Goffs-Churchgate prides itself on its sense of community both within the school grounds but also in the wider community that we serve. All visitors to our school unfailingly comment on our community, and are struck by how much the school is a closeknit environment for its students.

The school actively promotes its strong sense of community through our House system, where we support activities in the school but also regularly raise money for local organisations and charities.

The school and its facilities are also widely used by the local community. This includes primary schools using our swimming pool, plus other professional organisations, bringing further benefits to the school in terms of opportunities for professional coaching for our students.

Goffs-Churchgate runs a range of enrichment activities for our students. They are able to access a variety of annual school trips providing opportunities to sample different cultures, whilst an extensive programme of off-site visits provides opportunities for students to experience the diversity that exists within the UK and abroad, including theatre, galleries and museum visits.

We take all of our students in Year 7 to the Houses of Parliament and we also plan to run a Year 7 residential as part of developing self-belief, teamwork and resilience. All of our planned trips for the year can be found on our school website.

Goffs-Churchgate is proud to be a culturally diverse school, with students and staff from different religions and with a number of languages spoken in the school.

We recognise and celebrate what makes us unique and different, and acknowledge that we are also part of one community. Our aim is for everybody to feel valued and respected and we strive hard to ensure we create a positive culture within the school to enable this to happen.

Within the community our students play an active part in the development of the school at all stages. Led by our Head Students, our Student Executive and Community Captains contribute towards strategic decision making. For example, students work in partnership with the Senior Leadership Team to proactively develop projects that are important to the student body. In turn, the school and Trust make money available to support these student led projects.

A copy of our Equality Policy and objectives can be found on our website.

CARE, GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT

One of Goffs-Churchgate’s core strengths is it’s care for its students, providing detailed guidance and support for all.

When your child joins Goffs-Churchgate in Year 7, they will become a member of a tutor group in which their personal tutor (Learning Manager) takes responsibility for their day to day well-being, and for monitoring their academic and social progress. Students often develop a strong link with their Learning Managers who they see on a daily basis at the school.

Each year group has a Director of Learning who has full oversight of each year group. Their role is to monitor the performance both academically and socially of all the students in their year groups. For students joining our school, their new Director of Learning will visit them in their Primary school to support the transition to secondary school. The Director of Learning for Year 7 is deliberately a non-teaching member of staff, in order to ensure that they have that additional time to ensure students have a smooth transition from primary school, and settle in well to our community.

Goffs-Churchgate provides support through our dedicated Learning Plus Centre, which provides targeted support for individual and group needs. Attendance and medical issues are closely monitored by our Attendance Manager. We are also fortunate to be able to have an onsite Learning Mentor, who works 1-2-1 with students to address any barriers to learning whether it be emotional, academic or behavioural barriers. The Attendance Manager can also refer to our in-school Mental Health Leads, who can support students in breaking down any barriers to success both in school and outside.

For those students who need further support and guidance, for whatever reason, the school has a team of staff including Learning Support Assistants, highly skilled pastoral and special needs staff, and a counselling provision. Students who have an Educational Health and Care Plan, will receive support both through the school and outside agencies as appropriate, coordinated by the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

A full copy of the Special Educational Needs Policy is available on our website.

The school is fully committed to providing education for all students regardless of any disability, and will undertake all possible measures to ensure full curriculum access and support for all of our students. The school’s Accessibility Policy can also be found on the website.

We celebrate the successes of our students at all stages in their development. Positive reinforcement, or praise, is at the core of all teachers’ practice. This includes praise through verbal or written feedback, rewards, letters and/ or phone calls to parents/ carers, and weekly praise lunches with the Principal. We celebrate our students’ success and reward them for hard work, achievement and progress through House points and certificates. Students accumulate these and are rewarded regularly in celebration assemblies for their achievements. Our rewards culminate in our annual Pride of Goffs-Churchgate evening, where we celebrate the successes and achievements of our students at the school.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY – EVERY LESSON COUNTS

Research clearly shows that if a student attends regularly and is punctual to school and every lesson, they are far more likely to achieve their personal and academic potential. At Goffs-Churchgate, we want every student to achieve their best and therefore we expect every student to attend school regularly, unless there is a legitimate reason for their absence. We work closely with parents/carers and students to identify any issues either within school or outside, which may be adversely affecting attendance, and seek to put appropriate support into place. We request the support of parents/carers by asking that the school is contacted immediately should their child be absent, that medical/dental appointments are made outside school hours, and that no holidays are taken during term time aside from truly exceptional circumstances. We operate a first day calling system, notifying parents/ carers if their child has not received their morning registration mark. At Goffs-Churchgate, every lesson absolutely counts. Therefore:

• No absence will be granted in any circumstances when it would directly impact on any controlled assessment or examinations (Years 10 – 11) and progress

• Students are expected to be in their first lesson ready to start at 8:30am. This means students should arrive at school in good time to get to their classroom on time and be ready to learn

• Students arriving after 8:30am are deemed to be late and serve a late detention as advised by the school. Students are expected to arrive on time to every lesson. Good punctuality to lessons and school leads to higher levels of achievement and promotes higher personal standards. Students arriving late to lessons will also need to serve a late detention

• You should contact us immediately if you are having problems getting your child to come to school

• You are asked to inform us immediately of any absence

REQUESTS FOR TERM TIME HOLIDAYS/LEAVE OF ABSENCE

From September 2013, amendments to the 2006 national attendance regulations removed previous references to family holiday and extended leave.

The amendments make it clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers will determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.

In line with national regulations, the school will only authorise any term time holiday request in wholly exceptional circumstances, and then only where attendance is already at least 96% and there are NO issues regarding academic outcomes and/or behaviour.

Parents or Carers are therefore asked not to make any requests for term time absence and should expect to have any requests declined, aside where evidence of exceptional circumstances can be provided. Please be aware that permission will not be given if it is applied for after the holiday and/or the absence has taken place.

BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING

Our school Behaviour Policy is in accordance with the requirements of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (EIA 2006). The policy is designed to support the ethos of Goffs-Churchgate by allowing it to be a place where:

• All individuals are respected and their individuality valued

• Students are encouraged to achieve

• Self-discipline is promoted and good behaviour is the norm

• Rewards and sanctions are applied fairly and consistently

• The social and emotional aspects of learning are used as a ‘tool’ in the development of positive behavioural change

• Local partnerships are used effectively to develop and support appropriate change

• Behaviour for learning is an integral element within learning and teaching

We actively encourage positive behaviour. A system of praise and awards recognises worthwhile achievement of all kinds, and encourages young people to be confident in themselves. In responding to any behaviour that does not meet the expectations of the community, a full programme of community service operates – that is, students will be expected to undertake additional duties within our community, before, during and/or after school, in order to give back to the community should they have taken away from it through their actions.

Within the school we operate a mobile phone ban. No student is permitted to use their mobile phone during the school day. We also expect our students to wear their uniform correct at all times, both inside and outside of the school grounds. For our students, we regularly remind students of Goffs-Churchgate 365. This reminds the students that they are representing the school, all of the time, 365 days a year.

The school also operates a system of Saturday Detentions, plus “Disrupted Day” detentions where students in isolation are in school at different times to their peers. In addition, the Trust operates ‘MAT inclusions’. These are when students go to the other local Trust school to serve a period of isolation. All of these systems are a non-negotiable aspect of being a member of our community, and parents will want to be sure that they are systems that they fully support.

A safe, calm and supportive atmosphere is important for successful learning and we will take firm action to deal with any behaviour that does not meet our expectations. Goffs-Churchgate does not tolerate any form of bullying or racism and has strong policies to deal with these issues should they arise.

ANTI-BULLYING

At Goffs-Churchgate we have a very strong anti-bullying policy and are clear that bullying is not tolerated in our community. Students are taught through the pastoral curriculum about the importance of having respect for each other.

They are taught how to deal with the situation, when and if they arise. There are links on the website plus designated anti-bullying members of staff to help with any problems. There is also an on-line system in place to report any bullying via our website. This system enables us to respond immediately and resolve any issues.

Our policy reflects our belief that all members of the Goffs-Churchgate community deserve to feel safe, comfortable and able to work without interference during the school day. We recognise that bullying exists in different forms and at any age, that victims and witnesses may stay silent, and that everyone needs to be alert to the manifestations of bullying and the personal harm it can cause. Equally, we recognise that quarrels and the breakdown of friendships are a natural, if painful, part of life, and should not be confused with bullying.

WORKING WITH PARENTS/CARERS

Within our school community, we firmly believe that a strong working relationship with parents/carers is a key driver to the success of our students. The school works to ensure that all parents/carers are fully informed of their child’s progress and how they are developing. These relationships and communication are key to students’ success. It is very important that home and school are equally committed to the extremely high standards of work and behaviour that are expected from all students, something that you will want to consider before deciding that GoffsChurchgate is the right place for your child.

Throughout the year we have a range of events to ensure that parents/carers are fully informed. At the start of the academic year, we invite all parents to an information evening where we will highlight the opportunities open to your child, as well as making clear the expectation for the year group. During this event we will also provide parents/carers with a ‘How to Support Your Child’ document, which outlines the curriculum for your child and the many ways you can support them at home in their learning. It is also an opportunity for parents/carers to ask any questions that they may have.

In addition, we communicate your son/daughter’s progress on a regular basis. A key part of our robust monitoring of progress is that you will be receiving Academic Reports on your child’s progress across the year.

In addition, two Year 7 Parents’ Evenings will take place during the year to give parents/carers the opportunity to attend a consultation with subject staff.

At all times, parents/carers are encouraged to communicate any issues or difficulties as they arise. Learning Managers and the Director of Learning for Year 7, welcome direct contact by email or telephone. It should be acknowledged that a member of staff may not be able to respond immediately to an email or telephone call, and whilst a parent/carer can expect a response with 48 hours, for emergencies, parents/carer should contact reception.

Members of staff are always happy to meet parents/ carers if there is a problem. The Principal at the school also holds regular parent surgeries so that parents/carers can raise any issues that they might have directly with him.

A regular half termly newsletter, is also published. This provides information on forthcoming events and developments including reports on recent activities, trips and visits that have taken place. The positive relationships between the school and home, including our regular communication is a real strength of the school.

ROUTES TO SUCCESS: CURRICULUM

All students complete a three-year Key Stage 3 and a two-year Key Stage 4. The curriculum at Key Stage 4 offers highly developed and flexible programmes for students, with a rich and broad range of courses. We wish to maximise the success of all our students and ensure they undertake personalised and challenging, curriculum pathways. Each student receives personalised advice and guidance to help match option choices against their future aspirations.

In order to support your understanding of what your child is learning and why, we have a detailed Curriculum Intent document that highlights the key learning in each subject, as well as how we teach students a wider curriculum including British Values and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Culture values. You will find this on our website under Curriculum Intent.

At Key Stage 3, we have developed an innovative curriculum for our students. Students in Year 7 have the opportunity to study two languages, French and German, before deciding which language they take forward in future years. We ensure a broad and balanced curriculum, with students accessing subjects including Drama, Music, Religious Studies, Technology, and Art. Within PE, students have regular swimming lessons. In Year 8, students have lessons on Public Speaking alongside lessons on Healthy Relationships.

In Maths, every half term, students learn about an aspect of financial planning such as bank accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and loans. Our English curriculum has recently been redeveloped to promote further diversity. As a result, across Key Stage 3, students will read 18 books from a range of authors and backgrounds as part of their lessons. To engage students in life skills, we have developed our Character Charter, which alongside promoting resilience, teamwork and organisation, allows students to learn new skills, such as maintenance of a car and DIY projects. Alongside the traditional subjects, we offer some of our subjects through Curriculum Enrichment Days. These days supplement our curriculum and include a range of external speakers and workshops, teaching children a range of life skills for the future. For example, our annual Mental Health and Wellbeing Day in July is hugely popular, where all students take time to learn skills to enhance their own wellbeing.

All of these enrichment days prove very popular with our students.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR STUDENTS

Through our Student Executive and our Community Captains, students in the school have many opportunities to develop their leadership skills and experiences. These are vital skills as our students enter an ever competitive workplace. Our small close-knit community ensures that every student who wishes to participate is encouraged to play a leading role in the school, providing students with the right skills to prepare them for future careers.

EXTENDED CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Our school community offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities for our students to get involved in. The school regularly provides provision in extra-curricular activities, both at lunchtime and afterschool, from sports teams to literacy clubs. We also offer after school, weekend and holiday support sessions for students.

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN PUBLIC CARE

Goffs-Churchgate is committed to ensuring quality education for all of our students. We recognise that nationally, students in public care have significantly underachieved compared with their peers. We intend through our policy, to promote the educational achievement and welfare of any looked-after children in our care. The Educational Trust is committed to ensuring that the Designated Teacher is able to carry out his or her responsibility effectively. Personal education plans are put in place for all students in public care.

A copy of the Children Looked After policy can be found on the school website.

ASSEMBLIES AND COLLECTIVE WORSHIP

Assemblies express the corporate life of the school, and include celebration of achievements and matters which concern the whole community. They also include opportunities for everyone to reflect individually upon serious and worthwhile issues, to relate these to a personal response, and to be aware of spiritual values which give meaning and purpose to life. We are pleased to have developed a number of links with local organisations who provide high quality assemblies on a range of topics, for example HertsMind and the Samaritans both undertake work in our school working on Mental Health.

At Goffs-Churchgate we have an inclusive assembly programme, inviting all students from a diverse range of cultural and religious backgrounds to either reflect or worship together. A copy of our programme for assemblies can be found on the school website. There is one main assembly per year group each week. The beliefs and values which underlie both assemblies and Religious Education rely particularly on Christian belief but include beliefs of other faiths.

Through compulsory RS lessons, our students learn about the diverse cultures and religions that exist in society today. This is key to promoting tolerance and acceptance in society today. We are proud of the respect shown for all students’ religious beliefs in our community.

SEX EDUCATION

The values underlying sex education at GoffsChurchgate derive from traditional moral beliefs. Sex education is considered in the context of loving, caring, stable relationships and parental care. It is taught by experienced staff in whom parents/carers can have confidence.

In Key Stage 3, (Years 7 – 9) the emphasis is on puberty, development, relationships, sexual reproduction and contraception. In Key Stage 4, these aspects are dealt with in ways which are relevant for young adults and additional issues including responsibility, sexually transmitted disease and relationships, which are important for this age group are also considered. Information about the facts of sex should not be separated from moral considerations and sex education is, therefore, integrated into broader programmes of study in RE, Citizenship and Science alongside form time sessions. If parents/carers have any concerns about sex education they are invited to discuss the matter with the school.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR 2024 – 2025

Parents who wish to apply for places for their children at Goffs-Churchgate Academy are asked to complete the Goffs-Churchgate Supplementary Information Form and return it to the school office by the closing date for applications. If a Supplementary Information Form is not completed, the Board of Trustees will apply the admissions criteria using the information submitted on the Common Application Form only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority. In addition parents must complete the application form of their home authority online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

In accordance with admissions law and the Admissions Code, we take into account children who we have to admit, either because they are placed under the Fair Access Protocol or because they have an Education, Health and Care Plan (“EHCP”) naming the school because of their needs. Accordingly any child with an EHCP that names Goffs-Churchgate Academy will be admitted.

Goffs-Churchgate’s published admission number is 120. In the event of oversubscription, places will be allocated according to the following criteria, in the order shown:

1. Looked After Children as defined in section 22 (1) of the Children Act 19891 and previously looked after children. Children are previously looked after if they were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a special guardianship order or residency order, this includes children previously

looked after outside England. The child’s previously Looked After status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children and Social Work Act 20172

2. Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school (See note (i) below).

3. Children who will have an older brother or sister at the school at the time of admission (see note (ii) below).

4. Children of Staff (both teaching staff and support staff) employed by the school (either on a full or part time basis) (see note (iii) below)

5. Children attending the named feeder primary schools will be allocated places at the school on a quota basis in the proportions set out below (see notes (v), (v), (vi) and (vii) below).

a) Andrews Lane School 8%

b) Bonneygrove School 10%

c) Brooklands School 13%

d) Burleigh School 14%

e) Cuffley School 2%

f) Dewhurst St Mary’s School 2%

g) Downfield School 13%

h) Fairfields School 8%

i) Flamstead End School 8%

j) Goffs Oak School 2%

k) Hurst Drive School 11%

l) Millbrook School 5%

m) St Paul’s School 2%

n) Woodside Primary School 2%

1 a child who is looked after by a local authority is a reference to a child who is—

(a) in their care; or

(b) provided with accommodation by the authority in the exercise of any functions (in particular those under this Act) which the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970

2 The Children & Social Work Act 2017:

i. to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and

ii. to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.

A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by

(a) a public authority,

(b) a religious organisation, or

(c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society.

Please note that the above percentages refer to the percentage of places remaining - following application of criteria 1 to 4 - not the percentage of students in Year 6 in the feeder primary school to be allocated places.

Please note that students must be on roll at the feeder school at 31/10 in the year of application.

If any student from a feeder school does not take up their place, criterion 6 will be re applied to ensure that each feeder school, where possible, receives its full allocation.

If a named feeder primary school does not use its full allocation, any surplus places will be allocated under this criterion to a child/ children from the other feeder schools living closest to the school using a straight line distance measurement from each applicant’s home to the school (see note (vi) below).

6. Any remaining places will be allocated to children living closest to the school, using HCC’s computerised mapping system (see note (vi) below). In the event of a ‘tie break’ random allocation will be used. Random allocations will be administered by HCC on behalf of the Trustees of the school. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

In the event of over-subscription within any of the criteria 1-5, a tiebreak of the applicant living closest to the school will be used, using a straight line distance measurement from each applicant’s home to the school. If two children live the same distance from the school random allocation will be used, as described in the preceding paragraph.

NOTES:

i. Rule 2 applications will only be considered at the time of the initial application, unless there has been a significant and exceptional change of circumstances within the family since the initial application was submitted.

All schools in Hertfordshire have experience in dealing with children with diverse social and medical needs. However, in a few very exceptional cases, there are reasons why a child has to go to one specific school. Few applications under Rule 2 are agreed.

All applications are considered individually but a successful application should include the following:

a. Specific recent professional evidence that justifies why only one school can meet a child’s individual needs, and/or;

b. Professional evidence that outlines exceptional family circumstances making clear why only one school can meet the child’s needs;

c. If the requested school is not the nearest school to the child’s home address, clear reasons why the nearest school is not appropriate;

d. For medical cases – a clear explanation of why the child’s severity of illness or disability makes attendance at only a specific school essential.

Evidence should make clear why only GoffsChurchgate Academy is appropriate. Applications under Rule 2 can only be considered when supported by a recent letter from a professional involved with the child or family, for example a doctor, psychologist or police officer. The supporting evidence needs to demonstrate why only one named school can meet the social/medical needs of the child.

Rule 2 decisions are made by a panel comprised of the SENCO, Admissions Lead, Principal and at least one Trustee.

ii. Students that have a brother or sister continuing at the school at the time of transfer of the younger child. Goffs-Churchgate’s definition of a brother or sister (a sibling) is:

a. A brother or sister sharing the same parents.

b. Long term fostered children.

c. A half brother or sister, where 2 children share one common parent.

d. A step brother or sister where two children are related by a parent’s marriage or partnership. The parents have cohabited in a permanent relationship (as if they were husband and wife or civil partners) for a minimum of 2 years.

e. Siblings must live at the same address (sufficient proof will need to be provided).

iii. Priority will only be given to children of staff employed by the school in either or both of the following circumstances:

a. Where the member of staff has been employed by the school for 2 years or more at the time at which the application to the school is made, and/or;

b. The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage.

Please note that the child must be living at the same address as the staff member.

iv. In order to determine a reasonable percentage allocation to each feeder school, the following sources of evidence have been considered:

• The number of applications and subsequent allocations to GoffsChurchgate and Goffs, over a 3 year period

• The location of primary schools

• The availability of other secondary school provision

These percentages will be reviewed every two years to reflect the numbers of children from each school applying, the number of children taking up places at Goffs-Churchgate, and the number of students in Year 6 at the feeder primary schools from September 1st of the entry year, taken over a three-year period.

v. Where the number of places that can be allocated to the school do not exactly fit the published percentage, the allocation is rounded to the nearest whole number.

vi. Places are allocated to students in each feeder school based on a straight line distance from the student’s home address to Goffs-Churchgate Academy. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.

vii. Definition of home address:

The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application

• “At the time of application” means the closing date for applications

• “Permanent” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year

Where a family has not lived at an address for a year, they must be able to demonstrate that they own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12* months and the child must be resident in the property at the time of application.

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one where the child lives for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, parents/carers should make a single joint application naming one address.

If a child’s permanent residence is disputed, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes. If two applications are received, with different addresses and/or different preferences, neither will be processed until the address issue is reconciled.

It is for a child’s home Local Authority to determine address. If two applications, with different addresses are received from the same Local Authority, it will be for that Local Authority to determine permanent address. If two applications are received from two different Local Authorities, the above process will be used.

If two different applications are received for the same child from the same address, e.g., containing different preferences, parents/carers will be invited to submit a joint application or provide court documentation to evidence the preferences that should be used for the admission process. Until the preference issue is reconciled neither application will be processed.

For the transfer application rounds, if the initial differing applications (one or both) were received “on-time”, an amended joint application will also be considered “on-time” if received before the “late deadline”. If the amended joint application is received after the late date, it will be treated as “late”. The late deadlines for the 2024/25 transfer application process are 2nd December 2023 for secondary and upper applications and 1st February for reception, junior and middle applications. If these dates change, amendments will be published on the admissions web pages at the start of the 2024/25 application process in September 2023.

If, because of the nature of the agreement, it is not possible to provide a 12-month tenancy agreement, alternative proof of address will be requested and verified as necessary with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service. (Please refer to the HCC Admissions pages at www.hertfordshire.gov. uk/admissions for more information.)

viii. With reference to rule (vii) above, there is a national problem with parents using false addresses or moving temporarily wholly or mainly to secure a place at an oversubscribed school. This practice is unfair as it excludes genuine applicants from places that should rightfully be theirs. In order to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly the Board of Trustees may require further verification of addresses in some circumstances. Such circumstances include, but are not limited to:-

1. Where the family have not lived at the given address continuously for 12 months immediately prior to application;

2. Where the family still possess a property previously used as a home address; and/or

3. Any other circumstances in which the Board of Trustees consider that there is doubt as to whether the address given is genuine or that it is merely temporary.

Such checks may include verification of home addresses used at primary schools and documentary evidence such as bills, land registry documents and tenancy agreements.

The Board of Trustees acknowledge that there are circumstances in which a family may have recently moved for acceptable reasons and will take into account such factors, based on their findings of fact on the balance of probabilities, when deciding whether an address is genuine or not. Where it is established that the offer was obtained through a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application the offer may be withdrawn, in some cases after the student has started at the school.

Full information regarding the correct address from which to make an application is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions.

TWINS OR MULTIPLE BIRTH CHILDREN

If a parent has more than one child going through the secondary transfer process at the same time parents must make a separate application for each of them. If one child is offered the last place available and parents have applied for the same school for the other child(ren), the school will try to offer a place for the other child or children (the only exception is for a child placed through random allocation). In the event of only one child being offered a place, we recommend that parents contact Goffs-Churchgate Academy on 01992624375.